August 30, 2010

Consumers of Bhuban Valley tea belt allege erratic PDS

SILCHAR, Aug 29: At a meeting organized by Grahak Suraksha Samiti of Cachar in the Bhuban Valley Tea Estate nautch ghar, 45 km from here, consumers in general belonging mostly to tea tribe community and other tribal groups express their serious resentment at the corruption ridden and erratic PDS. According to their allegation, BPL and APL card holders are deprived of their regular quota of ration from the fair price shops of the area. All the speakers in unison spoke of unparalleled corruption in the Public Distribution System.

They pointed out that the common people with serious financial constraints and suffering get only seven to eight months of their allotted consumer items from the PDS and are ignorant about the whole modus operandi of those involved in the management of the system. Moreover, they have to pay much more for the food items than actually priced. Even the family cards under BPL and APL are perforce kept by fair shop owners in the possession without assigning any plausible explanation for that.

The consumers also alleged that no Food Inspector from the civil supply office visits the areas in question. There is no authority to approach for redressal of their grievances. In the absence of any check on the malpractices and monitoring, the volume of corruption in PDS is on rise. In other words black marketeers, hoarders and stockists have joined hands together to deprive the poor and needy of their minimum allotment of foodgrains through fair price shops and PDS. Biplob Kumar Goswami, general secretary of GSS, said it is a part of their mass awakening campaign against malpractices and corruption and make efforts for their elimination. (The Sentinel)